Londoner_25

Hey everyone,

So I was wondering what the snow was like last year on Sunshine mountain/Lake Louise. Was there a couple/few inches of powder always on top of the base or was it more riding on the hard base? If possible please give like an estimate as in, 60% ice/base and 40% of the time it had a few inches of powder. Thanks!

stunt66

last year was a sick year for alberta/bc hills. Louise is not normally known for pow but there were some good days last year. Sunshine is all natural snow and between the 2 sunshine definately had more powder.

AdamBQ

Had a great time in both last year.

3-4 days at lake that were just amazing. We were at the peak when they opened up the back bowls.
Same thing for SunShine... Had a lot of fun in the South Chutes.

I agree hat SSV gets more snow, but lately I've found it a bit easier to find stashes at Lake. SSV feels like it gets tracked out fast, whereas my good days at Lake were just endless freshies with just a little bit of extra work.

SSV defnitely has better lifts though.

Peaceryder

Sunshine was my local hill for two years and to answer the question about powder. Most days, even in the middle of the week, any powder that came down overnight is gone within 45minutes or less if it's the wknd. Sunshine gets a lot of snow, but a lot of skiers/boarders, lol. Not to be a downer or anything, but the reality is that I spent most of my time during the second season shredding sunshine's out of bounds sights. Btw, behind the Wawa quad is a decent place to setup a kicker if that's your thing. Also a decent bowl you can hike up to if you really want fresh tracks. Sunshine may sell itself on 'sunlight' and powder, but ask locals and most will tell you sunshine sucks for powder in comparison with some others, including my new local hill, Castle Mountain. Lake Louise has more trees, so if you're searching for powder and don't mind tree skiiing, then you'll find more pow there. -Should note, I've only ridden Lake a few times, so no expert on that hill. But if the back bowls aren't open, you may just wanna not go, lol.

Maybe it was due to the fact I was there all the time, but Sunshine got really boring after the first season. Not much for steeps compared to some other resorts, but maybe some don't care about that. Even the chutes were sooooo bloody short for the time it takes to get up the lift. After boarding Kicking Horse and Castle Mountain, Sunshine falls short big time for powder/steeps.
Sunshine is a GREEEEEEEEAT hill for beginners though!

The Lake is a farther drive to, something I always considered.

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Londoner_25

Thanks guys. I already bought a season pass to sunshine so I'll just roll with it.

Banff Shredder

Uh, Goats Eye?

Peaceryder

Never really compared with what I got at Kicking Horse, Revvy or Castle to name a few. Shorter runs too.

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Banff Shredder

Ahh, never been to any of those ones, but i'll take your word for it.

Peaceryder

Castle is a gem if you can handle the cold and windy conditions on slower lifts. They use SV's old lifts to get you up the mountain. The plus side though is that this discourages a lot of people from coming. For me, you're either waiting in a lift line for 10-15 mins (busy time) at most resorts or you are already on your way up the mountain after 5 minutes (MAX) most times at Castle. Not much difference when you think about it, you may even get more runs in because often when you go to Castle, especially during the week, you can head straight up the lift as you come down the mtn. I'm a bit bias, lol. Just have no patience for lift lines but if I'm sitting in a chair I can start visualizing my next run and be all chillax sitting down and resting up for the ride down.

Oh-yeah, and if that doesn't sway your stoked-ness, then think about the fact that Castle, even if it doesn't snow the night before gets wind sift all over the mtn overnight. So, always fresh pow, even if it doesn't snow. The snow gets blown from the backside of Castle to the resort side. Really sweet to know that even if it doesn't snow you're going to get some powder runs!

Fernie and Revvy just have wayyy too much pow :P

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notter123

too much pow?!

I wish I had a mountain in my area that I could even consider making this statement!